Reading stories in translation opens up the world to places you could never go to. For some people however, the place they can never go to is back home.
More and more children are migrating into the US from Latin America on their own. A New York bookstore, La Casa Azul (The Blue House) is collecting Spanish-language books for them to read. We’re halfway through the book drive now: you can send more age and culturally appropriate books for children and young people until 10th August. They can be “gently used” as well as new. Send them to La Casa Azul Bookstore, 143 E. 103rd St, New York, NY 10029, for the Unaccompanied Latin American Minor Project (U-LAMP).
If you’re stuck for ideas, here are some that you can send directly from Amazon USA and are also available in English:
Me llamo María Isabel by Alma Flor Ada. It is the story of a girl called Maria, whose teacher keeps calling her Mary. But Maria is her grandmother’s name – how can she make her teacher understand that she’s NOT a Mary? The author is an award-winning advocate for bilingual education.
Puerto Rican Margarita Montalvo’s Zoologico De Poemas/Poetry Zoo is a colourful bilingual edition of fun poems, which she has illustrated herself.
Malin Alegria’s set on the Texas border starts with Pueblo fronterizo #1: Cruzar el límite: (Border Town #1: Crossing the Line); it’s yet another high school series, but it could appeal to that age group.
found in translation 
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